Rain
by jailhouserock
Summary: Arthur's a boring business man. Wears suits almost everyday and is a workaholic. Alfred works for his family's ranch in Texas for a living. He loves being outside and having fun. When these two meet, tension stirs and neither really like each other at first. Yes, at first.


My name is Arthur Kirkland. 23 years old, and Editor at Lawrence and Thompson's' Publishing. Overall I had a pretty good life. A nice home with a very well paying job, and although no wife or children I made do with a cat named Milton. Bastard he could be at times but what else to do than lift him off the couch and too his scratching tower when he digs his nails into the furniture.

I'm a fairly busy man. I work 8 to sometimes 10 hours a day with weekends off usually. I don't really have time to hang out with friends. Although, I haven't got any of those really in the first place. I usually end up finishing up work when I'm home anyway so my daily routine is what most people would call boring or dull, but hey, it's my life not yours.

I usually start the day with a wakening from my alarm clock which would blare the old classic rock station on the local radio at around 6am. I then pull myself out of bed and head to my bathroom to take a shower, shave and brush my teeth. I would love to do something with my hair but unfortunately it looks ridiculous when styled.

Next I go back to my bedroom to get dressed into something business-like when getting ready for work and more casual for when I'm not at work, like regular pants and a button up with a sweater. Work days, I work a suit most of the time, black and blue were the main colors, yet another reason people think I'm boring.

Okay so I don't wear the brightest clothing and I don't go out to have what people call fun 'fun' which is getting so intoxicated to the point of passing out. Been there done that, but that's in the past and I'd rather stay in the now.

Today was just like any other day; I did my daily routine and got ready for my day at work. The streets of London were filled with rain water like they usually were during the season. I quickly grabbed an umbrella before stepping outside in the brisk air.  
People walked past with smiles on their faces, laughing at some joke their friend told them. Others thanked people for the gift they had gotten them, and some scoffed at the obvious lie they were being told. I just shook my head too myself. "Just another day..." I mumbled to myself as I made my way into the building marked L&T Publishing.

"Good morning, Mister Kirkland." The secretary said with a smile on her face as always.  
"Yes, Good morning to you too." I replied before pressing the up button for the elevator. Once the doors opened I stepped inside relieved to be by myself and then pressed the 7th floor button. I felt the elevator start to lift and leaned back onto the small railing that people usually held onto.

Soon the doors were open and I stepped out making my way down the hallway of the 7th floor. Many "Good Mornings'" were said back and forth before I found the comfort of my office. Nice and quiet. I sighed and leaned into my chair letting myself relax a little bit before getting into my work.

Riiiiing, Riiiiiing, Riiiiiing. I groaned a little being taken away from my minute of relaxation and picking up my phone.

"Yes, Hello?" I answered.

"Ah! Arthur nice to speak with you." The voice coming from my boss.

"O-Oh yes, hello Daniel." I said with a bit more of formal tone instead of sounding like pissy teenager.

"I'd like for you to come down to my office today to discuss something. Does 2pm work with you?" He asked but I knew it was rhetoric. I had to go two.

"Uh, yes that's fine 2pm, got it." I answered.

"Great! Great, well get back to work then, see you in a few hours." He then hung up before I could say goodbye.  
I rolled my eyes and took of my coat, rolling up my sleeves as it felt quite hot. Probably turned the heat on too high.  
For the next few hours I shuffled through packets of papers with a red pen marking and marking on almost every single paper. Sometimes these people were hopeless and needed a whole team to make this project work. I only stopped when I started to feel thirsty and also noticed that it was almost 2pm. I quickly got a cup of tea and drank around half of it before heading down to Daniels' office.

"You said you needed a word with me?" I said as I walked inside of the office. His legs were up on his desk and he had a cup of coffee in his hand, a huge smile plastered onto his face.

"Yes, yes, yes come now. Take a seat, Arthur." He put his legs down from his desk and pointed to one of the chairs in front of his desk.  
I nodded and took a seat as he said. Okay I felt a little confused, At first I thought he might be firing me even though I've obviously done nothing wrong. Now here he sat with a huge smile on his face?

"Arthur, you really love your job, don't you?" He asked me leaning across his desk.

I swallowed and blinked a few times. "Uh, yes I do. Why do you ask?" I asked him with a weary look.

"You know our company is international. We've got places all over the world. Canada, Australia, Germany, Denmark," He said listing out places our company is.

I nodded again and scrunched up my eyebrows in even more confusion.

"Yes, I know that, but what does this have to do with me?"

"That's just it, Arthur! You are one of our best editors that we've had in years and I've deciding to give you a once in a lifetime opportunity." He explained.

Now this, this caught my attention. Once in a lifetime opportunity? Now these don't come often.  
"I've been planning it for about a month now, all you have to do is..." He trailed off before grabbing a pen and pushing a paper across his desk and towards me.

"Is sign this." He finished.

I read the paper over and over again. "Arthur J. Kirkland, we would love to give you the chance to come and work for L&T Publishing in Dallas, TX. Not as editor but as Chief-In-Editor. We have been very impressed with your work over the years and we hope you give us the chance of giving us your talent for our company. Please consider our offer.  
\- Joshua Heimnach  
\- L&T Publishing

Me going to America? England was...so cozy though. The thought of leaving made me a little sad. Yet, this really was a once in a lifetime opportunity. It's not everyday you get chosen to work for one of the best publishing companies of all time as Chief-In-Editor. The position was so big. The particular location was also just so well known through the states.  
Texas suddenly didn't seem to sound so bad. After the many times of seeing horrible old western movies and witnessing the terrors of country music I still somehow started to find the state endearing.

And with that, I signed my name.


End file.
